How To Give A Dog Eye Drops?

Being a pet owner, do you know how to give a dog eye drops? Eye medications are essential to fight against eye infections. It is quite natural to freak out when it comes to putting anything in your eyes. Giving your dog eye drops can be quite challenging and also scary. In today’s post, I will show you how to give a dog eye drops. Dogs can lose their eyes because people couldn’t medicate them. Here, I have given some tips to make the process a little smoother. You can keep on reading to know more about how to give a dog eye drops.

How To Give A Dog Eye Drops?

In this section, I will show you how to give a dog eye drops.

1. First, gently clean the dog’s eyes with warm water and a washcloth to get rid of any debris around the eyes.
2. This will prepare your dog for administering the medications.
3. Sit facing your pet or place your dog on your lap facing away from you.
4. Now, hold the eye drop using your thumb and index finger.
5. You can even reset your hand on the top of the dog’s head for stability.
6. Using your other hand, pull down the lower eyelid with your thumb.
7. Then, place your remaining fingers under the dog’s jaw to support his head.
8. Now, hold the bottle close to the eye without touching the eye’s surface.
9. Gently squeeze the bottle to pour drops directly onto the eyeball by aiming at the center of the eye.
10. Hold your dog’s head in the same position for a couple of seconds to let the eye drops absorb properly.
11. Once you are done, release your dog’s head.

Your dog will immediately start blinking. This will help the medication spread over the surface of the eye.

Keep on reading further to know more about how to give a dog eye drops.

Alternative Ways To Give Eye Drops To Dogs

Some dogs are tough to administer eye drops. You can consider the following ways to learn how to give a dog eye drops.

Method 1: Give Treat

It is very important to ensure your dog’s comfort and safety while administering eye drops to your pet. You can follow these steps to know how to give a squirmy dog eye drops.

1. For this method, you have to approach your dog from his side.
2. You can sit in a chair by keeping several treats handy.
3. Tempt your pet with a treat to get him a little closer to you.
4. After a minute, encourage your pet to place his chin on your lap.
5. Every time your pet places his chin on your lap, offer him the treat and click.
6. Now, hold the medication bottle in your other hand (which is not holding the treat).
7. Slowly move the bottle closer to your pet’s face.
8. Place your dog’s head in a chin-up position and pull back the top eyelid.
9. Then, pour one drop at a time into your dog’s eyes.
10. Immediately offer him a treat after accepting the drop.
11. Once the dog is used to the bottle placed near his eye, pour a few more drops into his eyes.
12. Hold your dog’s head in the same position for a couple of seconds to let the eye drops absorb properly.
13. Release your dog’s head once you are done.

This method can a bit time-consuming. You have to give your dog a break in between to rest his chin and then accept the bottle & the drops.

Keep on reading further to learn how to give a difficult dog eye drops.

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Method 2:  The Restraining Method

Many dog owners use this method as the dog tries to bite when giving eye drops. You can follow these steps to know how to give a dog eye drops that bites.

1. Before you start, secure your dog either by holding him, straddling him, or using a harness to tie him.
2. After restraining your dog, make sure you make him feel safer by approaching him behind instead of in front.
3. Now, place your hand underneath your dog’s chin to lift the chin forward.
4. This will make sure his eyes are looking upwards towards the ceiling.
5. Then, gently pull the eyelid down and place the drops inside the eyelid pouch.
6. Hold your dog’s head in the same position for a couple of seconds to let the eye drops absorb properly.
7. Release your dog from the restraint and reward him with treats.

The restraining method is quick but make sure it doesn’t look like a punishment to your dog. You might need to spend more time making your pet feel comfortable before putting the eye drops in.

However, you can follow the same procedure if you want to know how to put eye drops in a pug. Smaller dogs can be easily held in your lap or ask your friend to hold them while you administer the drops.

Tips To Safely Give Eye Drops To Dogs

By far, I hope you have understood how to give a dog eye drops. You can consider the following tips to give eye drops to your pets stress-free. 

• Before you start with the whole process, ensure that you’ve removed the lid from the bottle along with any protective caps.
• Check whether the eye drops come in a suspension.
• Before administering, shake the bottle for 10 to 20 seconds.
• Never hold the bottle high above your dog’s face. Due to this, the drops can splatter or splash into your dog’s eyes.
• Make sure you are familiar with the eye drops and dosage required.
• You can use an assistant to ensure their head remains still and then give the drops.

Different Eye Drops For Eye Conditions

After learning how to give a dog eye drops, you should be familiar with different eye problems. Cataracts can affect a dog’s vision while kerato-conjunctivitis sicca can cause excessive blinking and swelling. Entropion can damage the cornea and uveitis can seriously damage the inner portions of the eye.

You can consider the following eye drops for dog conjunctivitis.

• Antibiotics
• Anti-inflammatories (steroids and non-steroids)
• Lubricants
• Mydriatics
• Miotics 

Depending on the eye condition, your vet can recommend topical eye ointments as an alternative to eye drops for dogs.

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Conclusion

In the above post, I’ve discussed how to give eye drops to a dog in detail. Just like humans, pets can get stressed easily. You can ask your friend to hold your pet while you give the drops. Your pet will feel safer if you give the drops from behind rather than from the front. Make sure you keep the treats close to your body. So that once your dog is close to you, you can offer your pet the treat and then give the medication. Once you understand how to give a dog eye drops, administering eye medications can be easy!